Kiss And Tell
by EchidnaHazard
Summary: A RedPurple romance story. (Shounen-ai.)


The explosions rocked The Massive, each more deafening than the last. The mighty Massive trembled under the onslaught of explosive weapons, and the inhabitants within scurried like ants to man their stations and defend their leaders who resided upon it.  
  
Red glanced up as the ship shook again, to its very core, and his expression changed from annoyed to alarmed. This was serious, very serious indeed.  
  
He began to stand, the hover mechanism in his Pak humming contentedly, when the biggest strike of all slammed into The Massive with the force of ten nuclear warheads.  
  
The lights dimmed. From outside, the ship looked like a stricken rhino slammed head-on with an elephant, it reeled and staggered back, half turning on its side.  
  
"Raise shields, you idiots!" Red roared, "Every Irken on Tech, raise the shields!"  
  
A small, sputtering murmur of engines began, the nether-realms of the ship straining their power cells. At last, the blue electricity shield was thrown up.  
  
The enemy warship, piloted by a deadly race of cyborgs, swung around again, firing repeatedly on the crippled Massive.  
  
Red staggered back as the shields did little even to break the missiles' charge, and stumbled into Purple, who instantly reached out to steady him.  
  
"What's going on?!" he bellowed near the other Tallest's head, to be heard over the alarm klaxon that had begun.  
  
"We're under fire! The Trill and their damned insurrectionists!" Red snarled, in response. Then, to his Tech, "Turn off that alarm!"  
  
The noise ceased after a few precious seconds, and Red felt the ringing in his head as his antennae twitched angrily.  
  
"Damn it, teach them not to mess with us. Deploy all our Spittle Pods, I want every Irken able to fight to take them down!" He shrilled, still unnerved.  
  
A whistle of noise and several hundred Irken Pods sped out from The Massive's underbelly, flying like a swarm of deadly bees to destroy the threat to their Queen...or in this case, Kings.  
  
Swift and light, they began to circle the behemoth that was the Trill's Warship, named Until Death, clearly outclassing it in only the way a bunch of locusts could defeat a bulldog. The Trill seemed to see this also, and instead of trying to eliminate each small ship at once, it turned again and fired on The Massive once more.  
  
The shields died, and the ship shuddered. The gravity imposed on the ship flickered, and Red and Purple were thrown back against one of the control pads. Red cracked his head solidly against the console; Purple managed to twist aside and caught the panel with his left hand, bracing himself with his right as the world tilted.  
  
He reached down, "Red!"  
  
"I'm fine." Hissed the Irken Tallest, shaking his head. His eyes were dim, and he was clearly dazed. But he righted himself almost at once, and called, "All hands, return fire!"  
  
The Massive retaliated, sending lasers of blue and green, lasers that sliced without prejudice through both Irken Pods and the Until Death.  
  
A beautiful supernova of light exploded, the Trill's psychic death cry echoed in the depths of space and the cinders of their once mighty ship died out in the vacuum.  
  
Purple cheered, and his cry was followed over every intercom by the rest of the Irkens. Red's eyes dulled still further, and without warning, he collapsed bonelessly onto the floor, a small groan escaping his throat.  
  
Purple blinked, horrified, and ducked down beside him.  
  
"Red!" He uttered, alarmed, "Red!"  
  
The other Irken did not reply: his eyes were closed and a trickle of blood made its way down his forehead where he had collided with the control panel.  
  
Purple looked up: several Irkens were gazing at the scene, aghast.  
  
"Don't just stand there staring!" Purple snapped; "Get medical attention here! Now!"  
  
Minutes passed, and then a group of larger SIRs arrived, taking Red into their custody, loaded him onto a wheeled stretcher, and transported him to the hospital wing.  
  
---  
  
Purple paced the floor of his room-well, he hovered across it repeatedly, more like, but the worry was there.  
  
And at once he realized he had to go see Red. It was like a yin yang, one didn't look right without the other, and they weren't complete. Purple needed Red's decisiveness, needed his courage and spunk, just like Red needed Purple's quiet wisdom and words of warning. Together they made one highly competent leader.  
  
They hardly ever argued. They always shared positions of power, food and monies with each other. And they were never seen alone.  
  
If Red had been quicker, if he'd realized the ship was going to tilt at the moment Purple had, he might have been able to stop himself from being brained on a control panel.  
  
But then, if Purple had been a second faster, a little stronger, he could have yanked Red back as well. But he wasn't thinking clearly, was acting on reaction alone.  
  
He headed down the sterile hallways, thinking hard to himself. Finally, he reached the door to the room where Red was being kept, and before he could think better of it, he reached for the knob and turned it. The door opened noiselessly inward.  
  
Red was lying on the small hospital cot, dark circles around his closed eyes, his head bandaged. His antennae were droopy and lifeless, a bad sign. He gave a muted snore as he shifted in the bed, almost sensing Purple's presence. Purple wouldn't be surprised if he did, actually. The two were that close.  
  
A heart, brain and Pak monitor sat nearby, beeping every now and then. A tangle of wires was on the floor, swept to the side so they wouldn't trip unwary visitors.  
  
"Red." Purple whispered, knowing it was a bad idea. What was he doing, anyway? Red needed his sleep. The Tallest stirred again, but his darkened eyes didn't open.  
  
"Red...I really... I hope you're going to be okay..." Purple spoke in a hushed voice, approaching the bedside. Red looked so much smaller here, fragile. It made Purple nervous.  
  
"I don't think...if you died, I don't think I could rule them." Purple said, quietly, "I was always timid, it was- it was you they listened to, Red, not me. They adore you, and you can lead them, too. You know how, but I'm...indecisive, I guess. I 'think too much,' you said once. Well, maybe that's true. And I was thinking of what I'd do if you were gone. I have to admit, I really don't know. So...so that settles it, you see? You have to stay. If you don't stay, I won't be able to manage without you."  
  
Red did not speak, he did not move. His expression gave no glean of knowledge, he didn't appear to have heard the small, quiet speech.  
  
"Remember the time we made those puppets?" Purple asked suddenly, kneeling down by Red's side, gazing at the Tallest, a nostalgic smile twisting his face.  
  
"And then the time we blasted Skooge out of the cannon in the Final Sweep? ...That stuff was your idea. I know you never gave any of my ideas much thought, but your stuff was fun, too. Once you dared me to chug that soda, remember? And then you made me laugh and I spat it all out on the floor, and Invader Kern slipped on it. And once we saw how many chips we could stick in our mouths...fifty-seven. And you found out how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, remember? And we added it to the Hall Of Useful Knowledge, just for a laugh."  
  
His smile was wistful, "We just goofed around, you know. We never really ruled unless we had to, but you were always there to make the big choices, to take my place... but who'd take your place?"  
  
Purple was quiet for a few minutes after that, as if waiting for a reply. When he received none, he added, almost too softly to be heard, "I love you, Red."  
  
Red still didn't move: his breathing was even and measured, and his eyes remained shut with their raccoon circles.  
  
"I've always loved you, I think, from when we first met." Purple's voice rose slightly, as he grew bolder, "I've been your little tagalong, just a groupie, I think, and you never knew, did you. We fought over the stupidest stuff, but we never meant it... you hurt me sometimes, but I don't think you knew how much."  
  
The heart machine beeped.  
  
"I do, though." Purple said, his voice filled with something unidentifiable, "But I forgave you it all... this affection I feel for you, I wish I'd found some time to tell you. I was afraid, though. I thought if I stepped back and just watched you, you'd notice sooner or later, but you never did. And then I thought you'd push me away, you'd be afraid of me, or alienated, or...something else... and then last, last I thought you'd just not share my feelings back, and that would have been the worst, you know. So I contented myself with silence, and I got silence back. I took nothing, and so I got nothing. Maybe it would have been better to tell you to your face... but I was afraid."  
  
"You shouldn't be afraid." Red whispered, one eye opening slightly. Purple startled like someone had jabbed him in the butt with a sewing needle. "Just between...us two... I share your feelings... I'm not just saying it..."  
  
Red sat up in the cot, reached out, and embraced Tallest Purple, pulling him close, his skinny arms holding Purple with strong warmth. Their mouths touched for a moment, then two, then five, and they held a kiss. Purple pulled back after a minute, gazing at Red in wonder. He felt Red's mouth on his own still, couldn't believe what had happened between them. Something magical.  
  
"And I do remember... six hundred and seventy one licks..." Red's smile was small and brave, his mouth was slightly open. Purple bit his bottom lip.  
  
"You don't hate me? You're not afraid of me?" He asked, numbly.  
  
"How could I?" Red replied, roughly, "Who else lets me step all over them, huh?" He laughed for a second, then winced, as though it hurt, "I'll get better. Just for you. And then we can explore this thing a bit further."  
  
Purple felt tears in his eyes. "You're serious."  
  
"I have said so." Red nodded slightly, then tilted his head, "In fact, I was waiting for you to ask." As though it all had exhausted him, he relaxed back against the bed, closed his eyes with a tired sigh, and fell back to sleep.  
  
For a moment, Purple simply gazed down at him. Then he reached down and gave Red a small kiss on the forehead, turned, and left the room. 


End file.
